West Drayton Station – 28th February 2016
This pictures show progress at West Drayton station.
It does appear that there has been significant progress in changing the tracks to the East of the station.
The track work will bring the disused Platform 5 into use. This is the most northerly platform.
Welcome To Huddersfield
In my trip to Huddersfield yesterday, I took the TransPennine Express from Manchester Piccadilly.
These pictures show the supremely inadequate three-car Class 185 train at Huddersfield and passengers tying to board to get to Leeds and York.
On return, I asked a Team Leader what was going on. He said trains had been cancelled because of driver shortages and that three-car trains were inadequate anyway and should be five-car. They certainly have overcowding issues and bad passenger feedback.
In some ways these trains are their own worst enemy. After Huddersfield, it was standing room only and the stop at Stalybridge took a lot longer than it should, as passengers fought to get on and off with suitcases and bicycles. So by the time we got to Manchester Piccadilly, where we called at the inadequate and very crowded Platform 14, we were nearly fifteen minutes late. There were several passengers who missed their booked seats on the 1815 to London.
I never book return seats on a journey back from football, especially if TransPennine or Manchester Piccadilly is involved.
The Team Leader at Huddersfield didn’t seem pleased, but he did indicate something would be happening soon.
It certainly needs to.
I think TransPennine’s only problem of their own making is the driver shortage. Nearly everything else can be put down to inadequate investment by various Governments over the last fifty years.
I suppose you could blame passengers for creating the increased demand across the Pennines, but as the Class 185 trains seem to have been ordered without an ability to lengthen, the trains have been unable to grow with the demand.
Compare this situation with that of the Class 390 trains on the West Coast Main Line and the Class 378 trains on the London Overground. Both these trains have been lengthened, by the simpler expedient of adding new carriages in the middle.
We should make sure that all the Ministers and the Civil Servants, who conspired to give the North some of the most crowded trains in Europe, should ride these trains at least once a week, so they can at least understand their crap legacy to the travelling public.
But then no self-respecting Government Minister or Civil Servant, would be seen taking a train between Manchester and Huddersfield, when a perfectly serviceable chauffeur-driven limousine is available.
Improving The Hastings Line
In The Lewes Horeseshoe, I discussed how an idea from Railfuture might be used to improve services between London and the South Coast.
I came to the conclusion, that if various improvements were carried out, including the running of trains with Class 395 performance from Ashford to Brighton along the East Coastway Line, that this would present an opportunity to close and rebuild the Hastings Line.
The Hastings Line is only thirty-two miles long from the South Eastern Main Line to Hastings, but there are deficiencies in the tunnels, which led to four of the eight tunnels being made single-track, when the line was electrified in 1986.
Surely, the fact that the line is constantly switching from double to single track, is one of the reasons, that the line only has a pathetic one semi-fast and one stopping train per hour between London and Hastings.
But things have moved on since 1986!
Network Rail must have learned a lot of tricks with tunnels. In particular, all the lessons learned in the re-boring of Farnworth Tunnel will be invaluable.
The length of the line is also such, that services could be run using IPEMU trains, charging the on-board storage on the South Eastern Main Line and between Battle and Hastings stations.
Would running some parts of the Hastings Line without power, mean that it could be simplified by the partial removal of electrification?
I estimate that around twenty-five miles would be without electrification, which would be an easy gap to bridge for an IPEMU.
Would this simplification in the various single-track tunnels, coupled with modern tunnelling techniques, allow Network Rail to create a fully double-tracked route from the South Eastern Main Line along the full length of the Hastings Line to Hastings?
If four trains per hour could be run between London and Hastings, that would be a tremendous improvement. At the London end of the route, the Thameslink Programme should create extra capacity for trains into Charing Cross station.
In addition, it would appear that the line is already capable of handling ten-car trains. Could this be stretched to twelve?
I am certain, that in the light of developments in the last few years, that Network Rail are looking at ways of increasing the capacity on the Hastings Line.
They’re also probably looking to do other engineering work, as there was a major landslip on the line a couple of years ago.
But in truth nothing can be done, until alternative routes are provided via Ashford and/or Brighton, as the tunnel work would probably mean that the Hastings Line would need to be closed, whilst some of the work is performed.
Unless a sensible alternative is provided, I’m sure Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells will be penning another letter to the Telegraph.
The Lewes Horeshoe
A friend pointed me at the Lewes Horeshoe, which is described on this page of the Railfuture web site. They say this.
Events last year at Dawlish have shown the need for alternative routes to provide network resilience. A simple loop at Lewes, following the A27 Lewes bypass and the Cockshut, could be completed in Control Period 6 (or sooner) to provide an alternative route between Brighton and Haywards Heath without reversing, which would have enabled a service to be maintained when Patcham Tunnel was flooded recently, and would enable direct services between Falmer and London. It would also avoid reversing of the Lewes – Brighton shuttle service at Lewes, which might improve stock utilisation, and would facilitate services via a reopened Uckfield – Lewes line to Brighton. The radius of curvature is similar to that of the new curve on the East London Line Extension at Shoreditch, which operates without disturbing local residents.
They also show this map of the horseshoe.
Railfuture’s Lewes Horeshoe
This is a Google Map of the area.
Lewes Horseshoe
And for completeness, this is a Google Map of the East London Line at Shoreditch.
Shoreditch Curve
Knowing the East London Line well, I don’t think that the curve at Shoreditch is particularly tight and certainly thousands of up to five car trains have gone round the curve in safety without annoying too many of the residents. But are there that many residents?
So what do I think of the idea of the Lewes Horeshoe?
I believe that smaller rail projects like the Hitchin Flyover, Ipswich Chord, Ordsall Chord and Todmorden Curve, may not seem to offer high value before they are proposed, but once they are created, rail companies and politicians find innovative ways to use them.
I don’t know Lewes station well, but I always seem to spend some time there waiting for trains, when I visit.And would thus say that the area needs a bit of sorting out.
Now that the Uckfield Branch of the Oxted Line has been improved, as I wrote about in Future-Proofing The Uckfield Branch, I think that there could be moves to reinstate the Wealden Line and improve Seaford Branch services to Newhaven and Seaford.
Obviously, if there is any work at Lewes to sort out the services, all proposals should be examined.
There is also all of the proposals for a Second Brighton Main Line. I think that this project is so large, that I don’t think those using the trains between London and Sussex could put up with another project the size of Thameslink in the near future.
I also think, that several smaller projects along the current routes between London and Sussex should be sorted first.
- Improved longer and more frequent electric services from London to Uckfield.
- Improved longer and more frequent electric services along the West Coastway and East Coastway Lines.
- Improved links between Southeastern Highspeed services and Crossrail at Stratford International.
- The development of East Sussex services, so passengers can use Southeastern Highspeed services into Stratford and St. Pancras.
- The completion of the new interchange station at Gatwick Airport to improve connectivity.
- The sorting of the interchange between Thameslink and the East London Line.
- Improved services on the Hastings Line.
- A New one million pound car park has been built at Uckfield. Expect to see more!
- Improved layouts and extra tracks on the current Brighton Main Line.
I think that we’ll see some truly radical ideas and services implemented between London and Sussex, taking advantage of some of the new technology that is currently being developed.
For instance, if the East Coastway Line and the related Marshlink Line were to be improved, I feel that a limited stop Class 395 train could run from Stratford International to Brighton in under two hours.
I also believe that if the order of the projects is organised in an optimal order after Thameslink is completed through Gatwick to Brighton, that the important capacity between London and the South Coast can be maintained. This could be one possible order.
- Finish Thameslink, Gatwick Airport station and some Brighton Main Line improvements.
- Run twelve-car services between London and Uckfield.
- Improve the East Coastway and Marshlink Lines, so that trains with Class 395 performance can run between Brighton and Ashford.
- Add some more parking.
Finally, the bullet must be bitten and the Hastings Line can be closed and rebuilt, so that four trains per hour can be run between London and Hastings.
I discuss this in Improving The Hastings Line.
What Are We Going To Do For The Lower Thames Crossing?
This report in the Thurrock Gazette is entitled Over a thousand residents make anger known at Lower Thames Crossing meeting tonight and it describes the anger in the area over the proposed new Lower Thames Crossing. This map from this BBC report, shows the proposed route.
The Proposed Lower Thames Crossing
I don’t drive, but I do appreciate that there is extra capacity across the Lower Thames is needed to relieve the Dartford Crossing.
So what should be done?
I think that whether or not a new Lower Thames Crossing is built, we should give people alternative routes to cross the river.
Crossrail may help in that some cross river journeys like say from Kent to Essex, may be quicker by the following route.
- Train or car to Abbey Wood station.
- Crossrail train to Whitechapel station.
- Walk across the platform at Whitechapel and take another Crossrail train to Essex, changing at Stratford or Shenfield as required.
Obviously, it won’t suit everybody, but the design of Whitechapel station has been designed to facilitate journeys like this.
I think that the Abbey Wood branch should be extended to Ebbsfleet International and Gravesend, as soon as possible. This extension is safeguarded but not planned.
It would probably help too, if the interchange between SouthEastern’s HighSpeed services and Crossrail at Stratford wasn’t a long hike round the Eastfield Shopping Centre.
Surely, the real problem is freight.
This will only be eased by putting more of it on rail between Europe and the UK.
In the end another Thames Crossing will be built and this should also solve the problem of a bigger Thames Barrier.
Things Seem To Be Moving On Crossrail’s Western Section
Returning from Windsor, I took the route via Slough and took these pictures.
Note.
- Slough station has a new fully accessible footbridge and a new bay platform seems to be being created at the London end of Platform 6.
- The overhead gantries certainly seem massive. They appear to be from Furrer + Frey.
- There is a loop line to the North side of Iver station.
- Hayes and Harlington station is getting a new platform.
- The bay platform at West Ealing station appears to be being readied for electrification and the Greenford Branch Line.
I shall have to go back in the next few days and check on progress.
But it does seem that things are moving along apace.
Connecting The Windsor Link Railway To The Slough To Windsor And Eton Line
I went to Windsor today, to see how the proposed Windsor Link Railway could connect to the Slough To Windsor And Eton Line.
This Google Map shows the area.
The Slough To Windsor And Eton Line
The single-track line from Slough to the north crosses the Thames on the Grade II* Listed, Windsor Railway Bridge, before curving to the east to go to Windsor and Eton Central station. South of the river, the line is on an elegant brick viaduct.
Note how it actually starts at quite a low level at the river and then rises towards the station, which sits above the town.
Look at More Pictures Of The Bermondsey Dive-Under and the post shows how at Bermondsey, a similar Victorian viaduct to that at Windsor has been modified to create a new track layout.
As the Bermondsey Dive-Under incorporated multiple tracks and the Windsor problem will be that of connecting the single-track to Slough to the tunnel under Windsor, I can’t see that architects and engineers will have much trouble creating a superior solution.
I suspect too, that the final design will leave a large proportion of the viaduct without track, if the connection to Windsor and Eton Central station is closed.
The Hoardings Are Down At Royal Oak Station
I came past Royal Oak station and as the Crossrail hoardings had been removed, when I got to Paddington, I went back and took these pictures from the train and the platform at Royal Oak station.
It would appear that Crossrail are starting to clear the site and landscape it. This Google Map shows the area.
Westway, Crossrail And Royal Oak Station
I think that it is going to be some form of public space.
Is This One Of The Most Valuable Sites For New Development In The UK?
I don’t question the engineering behind the Windsor Link Railway, but I do question whether the project is viable financially.
Property Development
Obviously, the key to financial viability is the property development opportunities that the building of the Windsor Link Railway will enable.
I don’t know much about property development, but from conversations with serious property developers over the last few years, I can say this.
- Some of the sums of money that can be involved are immense.
- Location is still as important as it ever was.
- Car parking can be reduced in developments above stations, which reduces construction costs.
An infrastructure investor from a large insurance company, also told me that developments with a new station and possibly a few new trains are easy to finance as a package.
Property Development At Windsor And Eton Riverside Station
Look at this Google Map of the Windsor and Eton Riverside station and the River Thames.
Windsor And Eton Riverside Station And The Thames
The railway and the adjacent car parks, use a surprisingly large amount of land, that would be released by the building of the Windsor Link Railway.
The Windsor Link Railway could be a single track tunnel, as the maximum frequency would only be four trains per hour in both directions, which would enter the tunnel around the end of the current platforms.
Obviously, all of the land where the current station and car parks would be available for development. There would just be a rail tunnel in the basement.
I also feel that done properly, this development with its superb location on the river, should be car-free.
If that is the case, then perhaps Windsor needs a station under this development?
As the development will be pretty grand and very desirable, I would design a station with the following characteristics.
- Single-platform able to accept twelve-car trains. We don’t want to build a restriction for the future.
- All trains could be IPEMUs running on batteries in the tunnel. Quiet, very green and no dangerous electrification.
- Platform-edge doors. They’re probably needed under EU safety legislation.
- Double-ended with one entrance in the development and another in Thames Street. If tourists can’t drive, they need to be in the centre.
I think with modern station design, that a single-platform station would be sufficient, although, it would probably restrict services to four trains per hour in each direction.
We’ve never built a combined up-market station and luxury development in this country yet, although there are quite a few stations like Dalston Junction with lots of dwellings on the top.
Windsor And Eton Riverside could be the place to start.
Property Development At Windsor And Eton Central Station
If the Riverside site could be properly developed, what about, where the Windsor Link Railway are proposing to put their proposed Windsor Royal station.
This is a Google Map of the area to the West of Windsor And Eton Central station.
Note how the area is dominated by coach and car parks. Visitors want to come to see the river and the castle, socialise a bit, have a drink and a meal, and perhaps buy some tatty souvenirs. They don’t want to look at car and coach parks.
In Connecting The Windsor Link Railway To The Slough To Windsor And Eton Line, I looked at the engineering and I don’t think building the rail connection is impossible.
It is my view, that you build the railway and the station in the best way for train operation and passenger convenience. The station would probably have the following characteristics.
It could be a traditional surface station or underground, with minimal buildings above the surface.
I prefer the underground station, as it has other advantages.
- There would be lots of entrances facing in all directions. Think fosteritos!
- It could have a single-platform or a double-platform/island layout, capable of handling twelve-car trains.
- Platform-edge doors.
- A single track would lead to Slough and also to the tunnel under Windsor.
In the hole for an underground station, it would also probably be a good idea to build an adequately-sized underground car and coach park.
But surely visitors need some form of decent Park-And-Ride using an uprated train service. Such a station is envisaged by the Windsor Link Railway at Chalvey Interchange, which is South of Slough close to the M4.
Once the new station and the railway is fully connected, there is a magnificent opportunity to create a world-class park and related development over the top, between the existing railway viaduct and the iconic Thames.
The redundant Central station and the unused part of the massive viaduct would be developed appropriately.
Let’s face it Windsor is rather a crap and tatty tourist dump at the present time. The Windsor Link Railway could give the town the opportunity to give the historic town and castle the environment and status, it needs and deserves.
The Trains
In The IPEMU And The Windsor Link Railway, I wrote how IPEMU trains could make the design and building of the Windsor Link Railway easier and more affordable.
I believe it is essential that the Windsor Link Railway is run using trains with an IPEMU capability.
I also believe that as I saw in Future-Proofing The Uckfield Branch, that all platforms including the bay platform at Slough station must be capable of accepting twelve-car trains.
I am assured that this is in the design.
The Central Tunnel
I would suspect that many people would feel that digging the central tunnel across Windsor will be an enormously expensive operation.
Construction companies put in cut-and-cover tunnels like this all over the world and especially in Germany. The last tunnel, I saw being built was the large Stadtbahn Tunnel in Karlsruhe right down the main street, which would take the German version of the Class 399 tram-train.
Whilst this tunnel is controversial and has its problems, it is much larger than that proposed through Windsor. The final cost estimate for Karlsruhe eas €588million for a double-track tunnel, which is 3.5km. long and has seven stops.
In the UK, the only similar tunnel is the Dalston Western Curve, where a new tunnel was dug along an existing alignment.
This article in the Londonist describes a visit to the tunnel before it opened.
Intriguingly, the Dalston tunnel was reportedly dug by a German sub-contractor, who specialise in getting trams in tight places.
We sometimes seem too conservative when we dig tunnels. I can’t think of a cut-and-cover tunnel built in the last twenty years in the UK? Not even one built to create an entrance to a car park!
In June last year I wrote Walking The Proposed Route Of The Windsor Link Railway. I felt afterwards that a single-track tunnel between the area of the Riverside station and a new Windsor Royal station to the North of the current Central station would be possible.
Since then, the IPEMU train has become a serious possibility and if trains on the Windsor Link Railway had this capability, then the tunnel could have these characteristics.
- Single-track tunnel.
- Built using cut-and-cover.
- No electrification.
- IPEMU trains only in the tunnel.
- Evacuation walkway like the DLR.
- No massive ventilation and evacuation shafts.
My project management knowledge tells me, that this is the sort of tunnel, that could be built without causing too much disruption to train services and road traffic, by getting all of the jobs in the right logical order.
Conclusion
The Windsor Link Railway, is a project that must be judged as a whole.
But do that and there is a lot of money to be made from property development, which would more than pay for the railway.
The IPEMU And The Windsor Link Railway
The IPEMU or to use its full name, an Independently Powered Electric Multiple Unit, is a form of Electric Multiple Unit, which has on-board electricity storage, so that it has a limited range on lines without electrification.
Bombardier have shown it is a serious concept, by allowing the general public to ride their prototype in passenger service between Manningtree and Harwich during six weeks in early 2015.
An Outwardly Normal Class 379 Train
Note the following about IPEMU trains.
- IPEMUs look and ride like the standard train to passengers, with everything passengers expect.
- On electrified lines, IPEMUs run and accelerate like the standard train.
- IPEMUs can run for up to fifty miles using electricity stored in the on-board energy storage.
- The on-board energy storage is charged when the train is running on electrified lines.
- The train can run on any line without electrification, where a modern diesel multiple unit of the same length or longer can run.
- IPEMUs use regenerative braking, so all energy generated from braking is stored and used to restart the train.
- IPEMUs can be 25 kVAC overhead, 750 VDC third-rail or dual-voltage.
- The on-board energy storage can be batteries, super-capacitors or Formula One-style KERS.
There were rumours in the September 2015 Edition of Modern Railways, that Great Western Railway was going to convert some of their Class 387 trains to IPEMU operation.
How would IPEMUs help in the creation of the Windsor Link Railway?
Click here for a map of the Windsor Link Railway!
I think it is sensible to assume that all trains running on the Windsor Link Railway could have an IPEMU capability and the ability to take power from both third-rail and overhead electrification.
In Phase 1, using IPEMUs would mean.
- Trains from London would run using the existing third-rail electrification and would fully charge the energy storage before Windsor.
- The linking tunnel would not have any electrification and would thus be safer.
- The linking tunnel would only need to be wide and high enough for safe operation of the trains.
- The linking tunnel could be single-track with a passing loop/island platform station, as the proposed maximum frequency is four trains per hour in each direction.
- The Slough to Windsor Line would not be electrified, so would be visually unchanged, with no ugly overhead wires.
- Trains would run through Windsor and on to Slough using the on-board energy storage.
Less than ten miles of a trip from London to Slough via Windsor and back, would be run on batteries.
In Phase 2, using IPEMUs would mean.
- No new lines would need to be electrified.
- The tunnels would not be electrified and just large enough for safe operation.
- Bridges would not need to support overhead electrification gantries.
- Trains would run betwen the main lines and Heathrow Airport using the on-board energy storage.
Only a few miles of each trip would be run on batteries.
The Anonymous Widower 